A hypothesis is proposed which envisages the polyamines, spermidine and spermine and the diamines, putrescine and histamine, as representative of a group of compounds acting as regulators of cell metabolism. According to this view each amine has its own specific function and the differential distribution of these compounds throughout the animal kindgom is thought to reflect different growth patterns with differing regulatory requirements. Particularly critical is the implication that putrescine, which is often regarded simply as precursor for spermidine, is itself biologically functional. This will be investigated initially on dynamic grounds by metabolic studies comparing the rate and extent of the incorporation of putrescine into spermidine with alternate routes of metabolism such as oxidative deamination via diamine oxidase, tissue binding and release. Emphasis will be placed on the use of isolated cell suspension prepared from rat placenta and prostate and a variety of cell lines in tissue culture. The validity of ornithine decarboxylase estimations as an accurate reflection of putrescine formation in the intact cell will be investigated using a procedure developed for labelling the precursor. These studies will define more closely the relationship between diamine metabolism and tissue growth. Since the diamines, and by inference the polyamines, are largely concentrated in the reproductive tract of both sexes, in embryonic tissues and in malignant growth, then the findings are relevant to the fields of both reproductive physiology and cancer. BIBLIOGRAPHIC REFERENCE: Maudsley, D.V. and Kobayashi, Y., "Hormonal regulation of ornithine decarboxylase in the rat small intestine". Fed. Proc. 34 762 (1975).